


Tranquil

by kingkeiji



Series: FoAN Universe [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fluff, Hardly any angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Pining, Slow Burn, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingkeiji/pseuds/kingkeiji
Summary: Rudy was a carefree young prince who didn't have much responsibilities but those days were about to come to an end when he meets a street musician and fell in love with his voice.A slowburn romance.
Series: FoAN Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651471
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in an AU where phones don't exist so letters are the go to but everything else is in a current day setting.

Rudy Fayleon, 4th Prince of the Kingdom of Fayleon, 6th child of the Emperor and 7th in-line for the throne. In other words, I’m not an important person and the Emperor doesn’t really care about what I do, unlike my older siblings and I still get the perks of being a prince. It’s not a bad deal at all. 

On weekdays, I have lessons on politics and economics, foreign languages, history and other reading subjects that bore me to death. Then, there’s the better things like fencing and martial arts and weekends are the days I get to sneak out of the palace to enjoy the city.

Today was one of those weekends, another busy day on the market street. People from children running around, chasing each other with a stick to old people buying mangoes from the fruit vendor. It was the one place I could see how my people were doing.

Walking down the busy street, I could hear the plucking of guitar and a voice, cutting through the chatter of the street and there was a small crowd in the corner where it came from. A street performer.

It wasn’t unusual, there were others I passed while walking down the street but this one was different from the others. He had a voice that could make one shudder at a single note, it was a song I knew too well. My mother used to sing that song to me all the time before putting me to bed, but of course the version he was playing was an upbeat version and had some of his personal touch to it. 

It was a nice voice, and I cut through the crowd to have a better look at the singer. It was a lean and tall brunette, in a casual shirt and jeans, standing in front of a standing mic.

He played several songs after another and, some of the familiar ones I could sing along too while others I’ve never heard of.

When the crowd had dispersed, and the man was packing his stuff, he suddenly spoke to me.  
“What?” I asked, too lost in thought to hear his question.

“Are you alright?”

Of course I would be alright, why wouldn’t I be, I thought to myself.

“You’ve been sitting there for a long time and it didn’t look like you were gonna leave anytime soon..” he continued when he saw the confused expression I gave him. 

“Oh.”

“Well, you seem fine, so I’ll be leaving then.” he packed up his equipment, picked up his guitar case and slung it over his shoulder and started walking off. 

He was leaving. 

So many things were going through my head at the time, should I call out to him, chase after him, ask him when his next performance is? I like it, his voice- I like his voice very much.

“Wait!” I say in a voice a little too loud, it got stares from people around me and the man turned around slightly startled. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

I realised the question seemed a little inappropriate the moment it left my mouth and quickly rephrased the sentence. “Sorry, I mean, uhh- when’s your next performance?” 

Even he seemed abit weirded out by the first question. “I have another one tomorrow, same time as today.” he replied and waved me off as I watched his back as he walked away.

Back at the palace, I couldn’t concentrate on anything and my mind kept drifting off to the musician on the streets. I could clearly hear his voice and the way it resonated all the way inside me, the strumming of his guitar, playing that familiar tune. I needed to see him again. 

\---

The next day came and I went back to the marketplace, on the same street, but there were only people walking by and the musician was nowhere in sight, was he just not here yet or maybe he decided to perform somewhere else?

I wrecked my brain, trying to recall what he said yesterday, all he said was it was on the same time as yesterday’s performance, I never asked where it was! 

I tried pushing my pessimistic thoughts away. He just wasn’t here yet. He’ll be here soon, I tried convincing myself and went over to some other stalls first to get some snacks for later and got some small change to give him later. 

I sat by the wall of the street, watching people pass by while snacking on an apple. 

“You’re actually here.” I heard a voice and looked at the man who was standing in front of me and my eyes lit up.

“Hey, you’re here!”

“... and how long have you been there?” 

“I just got here not long ago.” I lied, its been at least half an hour but he didn’t have to know that.

He sighed and took his guitar out of its case and strummed through each note to check the sounds and did some fine tuning to his strings as I stared at it in awe. 

“What, never seen a guitar before?” a smile creeped up to his face.

“I have! It just feels different when you have someone tune it in front of you.”

“What do you want?”

“Huh?”

“What kind of song do you wanna hear?”

I gave it some thought but nothing particular came to mind and I blurted out. “Something cool?”

He huffed. “Talk about abstract.”

He strummed his guitar playing the intro of the piece and then started singing. I listened to him, the sound of his voice, it was a little deep and raspy, nice on the ears, the plucking of his guitar strings harmonising with the melody of his song. 

Pedestrians started stopped by to listen and just like that there was suddenly an audience.  
He played song after song, piece after piece. Sometimes it was instrumental, others he sang.

Like yesterday, it felt like ended as soon as it started, maybe this is what ‘timeless’ feels like. Seeing as he was packing his stuff, the crowd started to disperse as quickly as they appeared, and he started to count his earn for the day.

“You were amazing!” I said.

“I didn’t expect you to stay till the end.” he confessed. 

“I only stay for good music.” I replied and tossed a coin at him and he caught it with ease.

“Feeling quite generous I see today.”

“I’m Rudy!” Extending my hands out for a handshake. He seemed to ponder for a bit before returning the shake. 

“Antonio.” he said.

He slung his guitar over his shoulder.

“So Antonio, are you free after this? Want me to treat you to lunch?” I offered but he kindly refused me saying he had lunch before performing. “Hmm, what about tea? Cakes? Do you have anything you want?”

I walked behind him, trying to catch up with his strides. “Hey, are you listening.”

“What do you want kid?” 

“K- kid? Like you’re any older!” I argued.

“You don’t have a job, you waste your time in the market street and you dress like you’re still in primary school. Calling you a kid should be a compliment.”

I was taken aback at the insult. If it was the palace, he would’ve been arrested for his insolence and thrown in jail. There were so many things on his ill-bred nature i could comment on, but this wasn’t the palace, I have no social superiority here - especially when it’s not an official visit.

“How could you be so rude to someone you just met.”

“Then stop following me.”

“I’m trying to be friendly here!”

“Wow, I’m honoured.” he said monotonously.

He put his hand out in front of me so suddenly and I stopped just in time for it to not hit my face, startled. 

“You haven’t had lunch yet have you.”

I realised he handed me a hotdog. “I thought I said I was gonna treat you.”

“Don’t worry, it was originally your money anyways.”

“You’re an ass, you know that.” 

\--- 

Days turned to weeks, weekends turned to every other day I went out to meet him. On days, i couldn’t make it out of the palace I’d write him a letter but would never receive a reply. How was I going to explain to Antonio he’d be writing and addressing the 4th prince of his country.  
The first time he wrote him addressed from the palace, he was bombarded by questions the next time they met and I accidentally said I worked in the palace for the prince. 

I’ll tell him eventually.

“Prince Rudy, are you listening to me?” the royal tutor spoke to me, cutting my train of thought. “I said be more careful of your actions. His Majesty has noticed you leaving the palace too often.”

“That.. doesn’t sound too good.” I said. Not that he actually cares though.

“No, it’s definitely not! I know I gave you permission to go out on weekends to get to know the people but what’s the thing with going out five times a week, Your Highness. You need to be more aware of your status as prince!”

I just rolled my eyes and groaned in response and got another stern scolding about attitude and manners. 

Heh, wait till you actually see Antonio, you’ll go crazy. Wait, we’re we supposed to meet today? I think he did say something performing today or was that tomorrow? Shit, I can’t remember. Damn but I really wanna hear him sing though. I should probably hire him to sing for me personally, plus it’s good pay. Though he’d freak out if he found out I was a prince.

“Your Highness! You’re not even listening! Why have you been so distracted lately, this isn’t the first time. Is this about a girl? Because if it is, then we can make arrangements to bring her here.” he said as a matter of factly.

“No, GOD NO! Please don’t, that’s definitely not it. ” 

“Well, whatever it is. I hope you get over this crush of yours and get back to your duties, and I hope you don’t act like this in front of His Majesty or the crown prince.” he gestured to me but I didn’t know if he meant my recent actions or just me in general. 

I was caught up in his nagging for the next hour and could only painfully listen to him rambling on and on, not that it stopped me from going out to meet Antonio again and then maybe I’ll tell him about my semi-house arrest. 

I walked down the market street as usual looking out for that very familiar voice I’ve gotten to know very well recently. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there, so his next performance must have been tomorrow and that today he’d be at the bar working.

I walked to the bar not too far from the market place into another familiar place I’ve been visiting lately and voices greeted when they saw me walk in and then calling for Antonio saying I was here and took a seat by the window of the shop. 

It was a bar but also a regular restaurant in the day time and they served really good food too. There weren't many people drinking during the day and relatively peaceful with quiet chatter in the background. The last time I came here at night, the place was rowdy and was turned upside down with drunk dancing on tables, making stupid bets on other people, singing lyrics to a song I don’t recognise anymore. It was basically a dragon’s den back then.

“Will you ever stop coming? I’m actually on a shift.”

“You still hang out with me anyways. I’ll get a hot chocolate, with extra whipped cream.” I winked at him at the last sentence.

“Still on the kids menu, I see.”

“Hey! Be nice to your customer or I’ll complain to your manager!”

“But you still come anyways. One kids hot chocolate coming up.” he winked back and I felt my heart squeeze. 

Wait, why did my heart squeeze? Only then did the words of my tutor replayed itself in my head, ‘Well, whatever it is. I hope you get over this crush of yours and get back to your duties,’. 

Uhh, yeah no. Definitely not! I just thought it was a little adorable how he winked back at me, plus he was definitely teasing and making fun of me. It’s definitely his fault for looking that way.

A few minutes, which felt like an eternity to me, Antonio finally returned with a tray and a mug of hot chocolate alongside with a generous amount of whipped cream on top. “Thanks for waiting.” he gently puts it down on the table, went back to the kitchen and came back to sit at the table. 

I was just stared at him, confused. “Uhh, don’t you have a shift right now?” 

“Well yeah, boss told me I could take a break right now.” he said with a little smile and all I could manage to say was a single ‘oh’ before things fell into silence.

“Hey, you okay? You face is kind of red.” he asked and naturally extended his hand against my forehead to check my temperature, sending a foreign feeling of his knuckles against my forehead.

I flinched obviously at his sudden touch and he jerked his hands away. It was a brief, sudden moment but it was more than enough to send all the blood to my face and to get an exaggerated reaction from me. 

“Sorry..” he apologised, “but I was only trying to take your temperature you know.” 

“No, it’s fine! I was just abit surprised that’s all. It’s just a little hot today.” The moment the last sentence left my lips, I swear I wanted to plant myself 5 feet underground. Not only has it been chilly the past few days, the sun wasn’t even out. “Oh yeah, I came cause I wanted to tell you I’ll be busy the next few days so I can’t visit you as often, you know with the wedding coming up.” I tried changing the subject.

“Oh right, you work in the palace. I bet it’s going to be hectic. Hmm, we can’t exactly exchange letters either. When do you think you’ll be free?” Antonio asked.

“Probably just the weekends or I can sneak out for a bit on weekdays.” I said suggestively.

Antonio snickered. “Please don’t, I don’t want anyone getting fired - but the wedding huh… Who were you working for again?”

“Uhh, the second prince.” I lied.

“Serving the prince seems pretty cool huh.” Antonio confesses in slight awe.

If only he knew who I actually was. I was already too deep into the lie and it was getting harder and harder to tell him the truth now.

“Do you have to go back soon?” 

“No, I still have some time left.” 

“Then, do you want to help me find a present for my younger brother?” he asked. 

I agreed to it and Antonio went back to work and was ending his shift in half an hour. I tried recalling times where he’d mention his brother and had a vague impression he was around 11 years old, not knowing if Antonio had mentioned that or if it was just a false memory. 

I sipped on my hot chocolate waiting for time to pass, looking out the window watching people walking past the shop.

Not too long later, Antonio came back out of his work clothes and we went to a shopping mall in the area. Since, we were in the city, there were many places to choose from but decided on a mall since all the shops were concentrated in a small area. 

After going through our options of what his little brother would like, we settled on a wallet since he was at an age he should be responsible for his things, and not the kind with children designs on them. We went to a couple of shop, browsing through the options and what material it would be best for him and what sort of designs. 

Our conversations flowed well, hardly leaving any silence between us, talking about our week and just the randomest things and then laughing about it. It turns out, Antonio was really close to his brother and really loves to dote on him and I sort of felt a little envious of them.

I was about to cross the street, not really paying attention to the light that just turned red and Antonio realised I wasn’t paying attention and grabbed my hands on reflex and pulled me back onto the sidewalk. “That was dangerous! Watch where you’re going Rudy! Don’t scare me like that.”

I was startled by the sudden outburst and could only apologise for not paying proper attention.

Antonio sighed in relief and his grip on my hands loosened gradually. It didn’t seem like he realised my hands were still in his, and when he looked down and saw our hands interlocked and a look I couldn’t read rested on his face, “you - your hands…” 

I just looked at him confused and getting more and more self aware of the fact he was touching my hands and seemed to be staring at it. “What about them?” I asked with all the calmness I could muster. 

My heart rate spiked up and I could feel my heart beating in my chest, threatening to jump out. If he keeps this hand thing up any longer I don’t think I can take it anymore. What is wrong with me?

“Hey.” I called out to him again because he didn’t seem to be responding.

He glanced away, with a slightly disturbed expression. “Uhh, nothing. They’re just really soft.”

“Huh?”

“The light’s green now, let’s go.” he pointed out and walked ahead, leaving me behind.

“Hey, Antonio. What the hell was that all about.” I chased after him. 


	2. Tranquil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He leaned in closer to me, our faces only inches apart, eyes staring directly into mine I could almost feel it burn. It was electrifying and my breath hitched in anticipation.
> 
> He rested his head on my shoulder and hands on mine on the chair. “Thank you.” He mumbled.

Days later, I came back with a piece of paper with a single address and a time written on it. Antonio passed it to me before we parted the last time, inviting me to his little brother’s birthday party. It was a plain piece of paper torn from a random page, one couldn’t even tell it was an invitation card.

Soon enough I heard the screams and shouts of children and knew I was somewhere in the area. Their place was an apartment complex that was showing its age with graffiti on the walls that no one bothered to paint over.

After some difficulty trying to navigate my way into the compound, I finally found it. There were a few children playing around the swings, who seemed to be the right age but I didn’t know anyone so I approached cautiously, scanning the area for a familiar face. 

That’s when I felt a firm pat on my shoulders. All my senses peaked, not hearing anyone approaching me from behind. I turned around so quickly that even the person behind me was startled. "He- woah!” 

If I didn’t hear that familiar voice, I probably would’ve actually hit the person. My hands stopped just in time before striking Antonio and he visibly stiffened and flinched away expecting impact. 

“Shit, sorry. Antonio, are you alright?”

“Woah, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry, I’m just not used to places like this, I got nervous.”

“Yeah, please just don’t start clobbering people on the streets, Rudy.”

“I don’t!” I argued. 

He just side eyed me, unamused and walked past me. He gestured for me to follow him. “I’ll introduce you to Luis.” and I followed behind him towards the kids playing around at the playground. 

There was a single table with paper plates and cups on at side with refreshments, fizzy drinks and various types of sandwiches that were homemade. It was a simple set-up but anyone could tell a lot of work was put into it. 

Antonio called his brother over and he came running over to us. “I told you I was going to invite a friend over right. This is Rudy.” he pointed to me. 

Luis stared at me, his expression unreadable. He had the same brown hair as his brother but has light caramel eyes instead of a light green colour like his brother. Just when I started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, he burst into a huge smile. “I’m Luis! My brother talks alot about you.” 

Hearing the younger say that, my eyes widened and I looked at Antonio with a mischievous grin, “Really now? What does he say?” I edged the kid on. 

“He said that you- “ he started but was cut off by his brother who called out his name and was giving him a disapproval look. 

Luis pouted, huffed and walked away back to his friends. Antonio watched as his brother walked back over and sighed. 

“You could’ve let him speak you know.” I said with a sly smile and he just told me to shut up. 

Leaving the kids to play by themselves, we went up to his apartment. Seeing his place, it took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting much since the beginning but my closet was bigger than the entire apartment. It had everything a house should have. It was a little on the messier side of things but it was still fairly neat and had a familiar comforting scent to it that calmed me. The light shone through the sheers and lit the apartment 

“Just sit anywhere you want.” he said pointing to his room and I complied. His room was cosy, filled with elementary school books on one side of the room and action figures, and the other bed, there was a guitar case, which I assumed was Antonio’s bed and sat by the edge of the bed. 

Not too long later, Antonio came into the room with two mugs in his hands. “Ohh, you figured out which one my bed was.” he said with a grin on his face. 

“Well, can’t be the one with the guitar on it, can it?”

“Of course not, it’s the one with the toys.” he said. 

“Action figures.” I corrected him. 

“Well then, didn’t think you’d be into action figures. Oh right, you’re still a kid I forgot.” he extended one of the mugs to me and I gratefully took it, the warmth of it spreading onto my hands. “Maybe I should’ve left you downstairs.”

“Haha, funny.” 

He joined me, sitting on the bed and drinking his coffee

After finishing our drinks, he offered to play me a song. It was the usual guitar prep that I never got tired of seeing. He started with a simply plucking it and then began humming along with the melody. It was a soft calming melody, the notes resonated in the room washing a calm feeling over me and it lulled me to sleep. I only woke up when he called me several times and my eyes shot open. 

“Sorry, I feel asleep.”

“You tired?” he asked a little concerned, “You can rest here for a bit if you want. There’s still time before you need to go back.” He said. 

He seemed to genuinely mean it instead of being polite and I took up on the offer. “Just 15 minutes then.” He played a few more lulling tunes and before I knew it I was already asleep. 

I woke up when I felt rustling next to me. The dazzling sun from earlier wasn’t shining into the room anymore. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep, but it definitely was not 15 minutes, maybe an hour or two at most. 

There was a warm blanket placed over me that wasn’t there earlier and it brought a smile to my face. I was about to stretch my legs when I felt something behind me and stiffed. I didn’t dare turn around, and my heart quickened. My mind went blank and didn’t dare think of it as what I think it was but I could hear shallow breathing from behind me. 

Somehow while I was sleeping, Antonio had also climbed onto the bed and fell asleep next to me. I shifted under the blanket and propped myself onto my elbows and he was indeed sleeping soundly next to me, though he didn’t have a blanket on him, probably dozed off. 

His sleeping face wasn’t something I’d seen and was truly a strange sight. His brown hair falling onto his face. I brushed it away and tucked them behind his ears, his hair was soft to the touch and were very fine it would fall back onto his features. I ran my fingers through the strands of his hair gently. 

Then I realised the pair of green orbs that were quietly staring back at me.

“Did I wake you?” I asked.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t supposed to fall asleep anyways.” he stretched out his limbs and rested his head by my thighs and interlocked our hands, taking me by surprise. 

“You - really have soft hands don’t you? Mine are all rough from playing the guitar. It’s nice.” he said, bringing them closer to his face that I could feel his breath on my skin. 

“Are you going home soon?” he asked. 

“Uhh yeah.” I replied swiftly, I couldn’t risk staying there any longer and cause anymore damage to my heart.

“The palace?”

“Yeah.”

“When can we meet next?”

“I don’t know yet, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” he reassured and squeezed my hands, but I didn’t return the action.

A while later, he loosed his hands and sat himself up. “I’ll walk you back down.”

I passed Antonio the present I had brought for Luis and then went down to say my goodbyes to the birthday boy and made my way back to the palace. Antonio had offered to walk me home but I declined him politely. 

Back in the privacy of my room, I flopped back down onto the sofa and took a look around my room. It was enormous compared to Antonio’s room, who shared a room. I had a separate chamber for loitering around and another room just to sleep. Our lives were really too different.

Unable to bring myself to think of anything else, I went over to my brother, Ren’s room. He was the second prince and third in line for the throne which makes him significantly more important than me. Although, we both share the same father, and have the same title as prince, he gets treated with much more care and respect and unlike the crown prince, he actually has a nice personality. 

I knocked on his door and a moment later, his aide opened the door for him. “Prince Rudy.” she sent her respects.

“Is Ren in?”

“Yes, but he’s a little tired.” she said and then a voice came from behind her to let me in. 

“Hey, what’s up Rudy? You rarely come over this late.”

“I- I have something I want to talk to you about.” I confessed. 

Quickly realising that I wasn’t feeling comfortable and seemed to have something important to say, he had his aide leave the room.

“What is it?” he asked me as he grabbed a jug of water and glasses from a table near the door to the couches. 

I took a seat opposite of him and he poured me a glass of water, patiently waiting until I was ready to say it. “Uh - how do you know if you like someone?” I blurted out. 

I heard the glass clank and Ren was looking at me with a shocked expression, and I immediately regretted my decision. There really wasn’t anyone other than him that I could consult in regards to this topic in the palace and Ren was the only sibling I trusted.

Seeing his response, I felt dejected and stood up to leave the room. 

“Wait, Rudy, don’t leave.” he called out. “I’m not judging you or anything, it’s just that I - uh wasn’t exactly expecting you to ask me that.” he pulled me by the arm to stop me from leaving and made me sit back down. “What brought this up? Did you find someone you like?”

“I don’t really know. I just… feel weird when im around them.” I confessed.

“Weird how?” 

“Well, at first I thought it was just admiration but recently I can’t tell what it is anymore. I like spending time with them and I get all nervous when it’s just the both of us and recently.. I don’t know. I really want to be with them all the time.. Like more than usual.” I said fidgeting and fiddling with my finger like a child.

“Wow, you’ve got it bad huh.”

“You think so? What if it’s just a normal like, what if I don’t really like him and it’s just a now crush kind of thing?”

“Wait.. him??” 

I stiffened, did I slip out saying it was a him? “Did I say that?” I tried playing it off, avoiding eye contact.

“Rudy.” Ren said with a stern voice and it made me flinch. Ren had always been nice but he also had that air of authority one couldn’t disobey. 

He was demanding and was persistent with his questions, asking me questions, one by one, getting information out of me and eventually got me to tell him all the details much to my dismay.

After hearing the story, Ren let out a heavy sigh, resting his elbows on his knees, facing the floor while I just sat on the couch with my eyes downcast. “I can see why you’re so troubled now. Well, the only thing I can say for certain is that whatever it is you're having, it won’t end well if you keep pursuing it. It’s better to give up now before it gets any worse.” He advised and it sent an unpleasant feeling grow within me.

The next few days, I cooped myself in my room, going through documents, reading and catching up on my studies. The only time I left my room was when I was training or when I volunteered to spar with the soldiers. 

Weeks went by and I haven’t left the palace grounds, my tutor was of course delighted by the fact that I was finally fulfilling my duties and being diligent in my duties as prince. He praised me and was happy all week, not having to deal with a missing prince and running all over the palace looking for me. So when I asked for permission to go into town, he happily approved of it.

It had only been a few weeks but it felt like ages and nostalgia washed over me, the air of excitement in the city compared to the ambience of the palace.

The first place I stopped by was the market hoping to see a certain someone but he wasn’t there. Then, I walked over to the cafe he was working at and was welcomed but he wasn’t there either and I braved myself to visit his apartment.

I stood outside his door for a good minute, thinking of what to say, before ringing the doorbell. I didn’t even know what I was doing but was hoping that I could come to a conclusion after seeing him. 

The door opened, and there he was. The familiar brunette stood at the doorway, dumbfounded, completely not expecting me to be the one at the door. 

“Rudy?”

“Hey.” I replied weakly.

We stood there in silence, both not knowing what to say. Antonio was the one who got ahold of himself first and said, “Sorry, want to come in?” he opened the door wider for me to come in and I did. 

I sat quietly on the couch in the living room not knowing what to actually say, while he was in the kitchen preparing a cup of tea. He set the mug down on the table when he returned and I thanked him, trying to engage in small talk but the air around us was stagnant and I could feel it’s weight weighing in the air. 

Antonio was being unusually quiet, tracing his fingers on the lip of the mug, seemingly upset.

“I’m sorry.” I said. 

“What for?” the tone in his voice cold, his glance stayed on his drink.

“For not saying anything and disappearing.” I threaded lightly. “And you know, the palace has been busy lately and I couldn’t really leave.”

Antonio let out a heavy sigh and I couldn’t help but feel that it was because of me and the guilt plagued me. “It’s not like we promised to meet up or anything. You don’t have to apologise really.”

Still, guilt plagued me.

Silence fell upon the living room again. 

“Hey Rudy, listen.” he started. “You know, you don’t have to keep lying.”

“What?” I asked confused, my nerves rising. 

“I didn’t think of anything at first - but, you’re the fourth prince, aren’t you?”

My mind went completely blank, he knew the entire time but he didn’t tell me. All I could think of how much trouble I was in and my priority at the moment was to get out of that situation. I felt trapped. 

“I thought it was only a coincidence, I mean - it’s not really a rare name but -” my abrupt movement stopped him mid-sentence. “Rudy, you alright?” worry in his voice.

“I’m sorry.” the words left my lips before I could bite them back and I made my way to the door, drowning out everything going on around me. The adrenaline in my body surged and I could feel my heart rate increase from the nerves. Get me out of here.

“Rudy, wait. Where are you going?” He called out. “Don’t run away from me.”

He grabbed me by the arm and the sudden contact sent me into panic and I instinctively pulled my arms away, as if burned. Antonio was stunned by reaction, like he’d just touch a wounded dog.

He was confused but kept his hands to himself. “Hey, I’m not mad at you, okay. You don’t have to be that afraid.” he said in a calm manner. “Can we please talk this out?”

“I- I have nothing to talk about.” 

“Rudy wait, please don’t go. I need you.”

“Why? You were living your life perfectly before meeting me.”

“I don’t know. It’s different without you around now.” Antonio confessed everyday had been hard on him, he kept on wondering when I was going to walk in the store as nonchalantly as I always did. He kept scanning the crowd hoping to see me that he couldn’t get completely immersed into his performance. He kept making beginner mistakes at work because his mind was so preoccupied and was all over the place the past few weeks. He didn’t even know how to get in contact with me and couldn’t just walk up to the palace demanding an audience with the prince when he didn’t even know if his hypothesis was right in the first place.

He was lonely. 

“I don’t know why you’re so worried - but I won’t tell anyone I swear, so please- please don’t shut me out.”

His eyes were staring back at mine and looked desperate and his hands were slightly shaking.  
“I don’t want to lose you.”

“Why?” I started. “What do want from me?” 

“I just want - I just want us to be friends.” he said with a pained expression, almost a plead.

“I can’t give you money or titles, or do anything. No one cares about the 4th prince.” I told him. 

They usually back off after hearing that and would find give up at being friendly. I guess that was goodbye, I wanted to end our friendship on good terms but I guess life had the worse plans for me.

Hearing that, something seemed to have snapped in him and he flared, “I DIDN’T BECOME YOUR FRIEND FOR A PETTY REASON LIKE THAT! DON’T LOOK DOWN ON NORMAL PEOPLE! I NEVER ONCE THOUGHT OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU OR YOUR STATUS IM NOT LOW ENOUGH THAT I’D DO THAT, DON’T MOCK ME, YOU DICKHEAD!!”

Antonio’s outburst shocked me speechless and I could only stare back at him, breathless after shouting those words at me in a single breath.

“I hang out with you because I like being your friend. I love being around you, okay. You’re nice and stand everything I do and I enjoy every moment I spend with you.”

At the end of all he said, I could only mutter an apology. It seemed to be the only thing I say that day. 

In the end, Antonio invited me back in for a proper chat and to patch things up. I told him the truth and we decided not to lie to each other anymore, well - it was mostly me anyways.

We talked about properly on how we were going to solve us meeting on usual days and it was decided we’d meet at least twice a week instead of me trying to find the time to sneak out of the palace whenever I could. He joked about not wanting to have anyone on his back for making me sneak out too much. 

—- 

One day, when Antonio was playing with his guitar in his room, practicing for his next performance, I asked if he could teach me the basics of it. 

“Yeah, sure - but I don’t think I’m the best teacher.”

He passed the guitar to me, and I held it in my arms like it was a newborn baby, worried that I’d drop or break it. It was a foreign feeling between my arms and felt a little weird. I strummed the guitar once out of curiosity but the sound that came out of it was completely different than when Antonio played it. 

He started by teaching me the proper way to hold it and notes of each string and an unbelievable amount of chords and instructed me to memorise them.

“Can I at least learn a song?” I asked, after strumming random chords.

Antonio seemed to be reluctant and thought it over but decided there was no harm in teaching me a piece this early. Antonio was surprising strict with teaching and was ruthless when it came to the fundamentals of music which I had always been somewhat aware of whenever we’d listen to music together. He was passionate about it.

“I’ve never heard that one before, what’s the title?” 

“It doesn’t have one.” He said and I looked at him confused for a moment. “I haven’t decided on a name for it yet.” 

“Wait. You composed this song? That’s so cool! So like we’re the only two people who knows this song.”

After teaching me a few chords I had to memorise, I realised that it was the song he played the first time I came over and a smile creeped up to my face. I had trouble remembering the chords and kept placing my fingers on the wrong place on the fingerboard and kept grunting in frustration. I already had the melody going in my head but somehow always messing up on the finger positions.

Antonio stood up from the floor and sat on the side of his bed and pat at the empty spot next to him, and so I walked over from the floor and sat next to him, slightly apart. 

I tried playing the piece again and when I messed up this time, I felt a slight shift in the bed and something warm had wrapped itself around me and placed itself over my hands. He readjusted my hands and fingerings, placing them on the right place. 

My body tensed up, the space I consciously left empty earlier was completely gone and was replaced by him. “It’s like this.” he spoke extremely close to my right ear and I felt a shiver down my neck. “Hey, don’t grip it too hard,” he advised and I immediately loosen the grip on the guitar, unconscious of how hard I was gripping the neck of it. 

He continued that way and after a while of being in that position, not only could I feel his body heat through my own clothes but it was getting almost impossible to concentrate and with every mistake he’d directly help me, his calloused fingers from years of playing the guitar over my own.

His hands were about the same size, maybe a little larger. My eyes trailed down his wrist to his forearms, it was well toned, was it from playing the guitar? I don’t know but it looked nice.  
His voice was nice too, especially when he speaks really softly. Does he even realise that his voice would sometimes go slightly lower and I can actually feel the vibrations on my ears. It took every fibre of my being to concentrate and act normal.

“There we go. It needs a little more practice but you got it!” Antonio announced, reeling back a little and I could finally feel air returning to my lungs. 

I kept the guitar on my lap, still holding on to it tight, sliding my fingers down the fingerboard and back up again, trying to ease the strange feeling within me. I was anxious because something was terribly wrong with me.

“Umm… I need to use the toilet.” I said, cutting off Antonio.

“Oh. Yeah sure.” he replied, a little confused. 

I set the guitar on the bed on the other side from him and rushed to the toilet, grabbing my coat along with me. I almost sprinted to the toilet and shut the door behind me. 

I slid down the door, trying to recompose myself. I looked up and saw my reflection in the mirror and was in disbelief. It had never happened this way before and my face was flushed up till my ears.

Exiting the toilet, I excused myself and got ready to go home saying I had things to do. I slipped on my coat that thankfully covered down my thighs halfway.

Before I stepped out of the door Antonio reminded me to practice the song and he’ll have a listen to my progress the next time I come over. He said his farewells a little too close and I pushed away the urge to take a step back, not wanting to seem too obvious. 

I quickly made my way back home, praying I wouldn’t bump into anybody and retreated to the comforts of my room, throwing myself face first onto the bed.

I turned over on my back and lowered my line of sight to see a growing bulge under my jeans. “Oh fuck.”

—-

“Antonio, wanna go camping next weekend?” I asked, sitting by the bar counter and watching him wipe the pint glasses dry then putting them on the rack. 

He looked at me confused by the sudden proposal. “Camping? Where?” 

“Hmmm, I was thinking Adrelle, they have pretty nice hot springs and waterfalls there.” I pointed out.

“Isn’t that near Astenia? Wouldn’t it be dangerous, especially for you. You know, being a prince and all?”

Astenia was a neighbouring kingdom, north of Fayleon. They were very closed off and dislike the company of outsiders and never travel far outside of their own country. Both our countries were under a mutual peace treaty ever since my father took over and our countries have been at peace since then. 

The plan was to lodge at one of the summer villas owned by the royal family. I had permission to leave the palace on a trip for about a week and I brought Antonio and Luis as my guests. 

My tutor, Elias escorted us as my personal bodyguard since the King didn’t want to assign extra personnel on a personal trip. I brought along with me a few maids and butlers to help keep the villa in one piece. Though Elias wasn’t pleased with the fact that I brought along two extra persons who weren’t from the palace, but after an entire night of relentless persuasion, he finally gave in and both the brothers got to come along on the trip.

At first, they looked nervous with the escorts, especially Sir Elias who were staring daggers into them until I told him to knock it off. When we arrive and the two siblings laid their eyes on the villa, their reactions were priceless and I wish I could just take pictures and save them in my heart. It was a two-stories, adorned with large paned windows and a beautiful, well groomed flower garden at the front yard and a huge fountain in the driveway. They were amazed at almost absolutely everything and it was sort of endearing.

“A- are you sure we’re the only ones using this place?” Antonio asked, pointing to the villa. 

“Well yeah.” 

Antonio didn’t even have the time to get his bags before the servants had already brought them inside the building.

They stepped into the building and the interior did not disappoint. Their jaws almost dropped to the floor when they saw how massive the place was as they scanned the spacious foyer, the large staircase that forked into the second floor and overlooked the first floor. Shining marbled flooring and the extravagance of it all. 

“Toni! Can I pick my own room?!” Luis chippered, basically bouncing on his toes, after coming back to his own senses. 

Antonio seemed a little unsure if he could make those kind of calls and looked at me for confirmation and when I gave Luis the green light, he basically sprinted off to the second floor “I bet they have a hundred rooms here!”

“Want to go pick your own room too?” I asked him with a little grin I couldn’t help to suppress. 

“I’m not a child. I’ll do fine anywhere.” he replied calmly but his actions proved otherwise. He had opened the doors to several rooms and inspecting each one of them and then going to the next to check another room. 

Observing him was amusing on its own, the smile and sparkle in Antonio’s eyes made every moment of this trip worth it. 

After checking almost half the rooms in the entire villa, they finally settled on a room, both of them deciding to have their own en-suite room with a private bath but still relatively close to each other and I took whatever room was close to them for the convenience.

After our luggages were left in our rooms, we wanted to look around the area first but Luis was pestering us about wanting to go to the waterfall as soon as possible so we put that on hold and left for the forest hike. 

I requested Elias that we were left alone but he was adamant on having at least one guard around, sticking to protocol and so the three of us with a plus one and made our way into the forest, following the path closely.

Luis started complaining halfway through that his bag was too heavy and was hurting his back and the guard offered to carry it for him which made him overjoyed but not without getting a scolding from his brother first.

Soon we heard the faint sound of gushing water and knew we finally arrived after about a 15 minute hike. 

To our surprise, there was no one there and we had the entire place to ourselves. I dipped my toes in testing the water and as expected, it was freezing that I recoiled.

Luis jumped into the water first and following his lead, I took off my top tossed it aside, on one of the dry rocks.  
I walked into the river and was knee deep in the waters, “oh my god, the water is freezing holy shit. Antonio what are you still doing there? Get in the water already.”

He was still on the riverbed, only his ankles in the water. “Rudy, I really don’t think I can do this.” he said, reluctant to step any deeper into the cold water. 

“It’s just the first few minutes, you’ll get used to the cold.” I countered. 

“Yeah, I just stay here for like five minutes then I’ll go there.”

“Noooo! That’s no fun Antonio.” I walked over back over to the shallow and tried pulling him in. 

After several struggles back and forth and he still wouldn’t budge, “You asked for it.” and I used my foot to splash water at him. 

Antonio let out something similar to a high-pitched scream when he suddenly got splashed with cold water. “Rudy! You.. that’s freezing. NO! OMG STOPP!”

“Luis, help me get your brother in!” I yelled towards the falls where the younger boy was climbing over the slippery rocks, trying to maneuver his way around.

He snapped back at me, like he’d found a new mission and jumped back into the water to swim towards us. Antonio was screaming and struggling, trying to reach the safety of dry and solid land but my arm holding onto his arms was holding him in place, unable to escape.

“Rudy, let go! I’m older than you, why are you stronger?” 

“I don’t have lanky guitarist arms.” I teased. 

He tried to pry my fingers open but I just squeezed his arms tighter instead and when he was looking up at me to complain, something else behind me caught his attention making his eyes go wide. “Luis, don’t you dare!” he threatened but it was too late.

Luis had already managed to splash a large amount of water towards the both of us and was totally adamant about getting the both of us absolutely soaked. I wasn’t expecting that either so even I got wet.  
“Wait, Luis not me. Stop, that’s cold!” and kicked back some water at him but it didn’t have any effect on him so I released my grip on Antonio and started splashing water at full throttle.

Later, we were all completely soaked from head to toe, “You both will be the death of me.” Antonio said, completely out of breath. 

“That was cold.” I managed to say between gritted teeth, shivering. 

“That’s what I said you dumbass.” Antonio spat but there was no real venom in his tone.

“Well Toni you’re already wet just get in the water already.” Luis complained.

Antonio shivered a little bit, rubbing his shoulder in an attempt to warm himself up.

The next few hours were filled with laughter, screams and alot of stupid antics. We had some sandwiches in the middle when we got hungry and packed up when it was getting darker, not wanting to get lost in an unfamiliar place. We walked back to the villa without any problems and had a full course lavish dinner prepared when we arrived, thoughLuis could barely even lift his spoon after all the energy he spent and went straight to bed after dinner. 

—-

I stretched out my shoulders and back, placing the book I’ve been reading on the side table. The room was a little too warm and I made my way to the balcony overlooking the garden to breathe in the fresh air of the outskirts. It was a spectacular view, the stars twinkling above and the only light available was from the moon, shining down on the garden. 

Midsts admiring the view, I saw a figure moving among the flowers and I squinted my eyes to get a better look. It was Antonio.

I called out to him and true enough, he turned around to look where I was. He called back when he saw me on the balcony.

“Hold on, I’ll be down in a minute.” I told him and grabbed my jumper on the way out of my room and slipped it over my head before pattering my way down the wooden stairs and out to the back gardens, not forgetting to bring an extra woolen cardigan down with me.

“Hey.” I said. “What are you doing out here.”

“Nothing, just talking a night stroll.” He replied. 

“Should've at least worn something warmer. Youll catch a cold.” I handed him my cardigan.

He looked surprised but gratefully and slipped it on, wishing his thanks 

“The moon is pretty tonight.” 

“Huh,” I looked up to the moon. “Yeah, it is.” 

“Prince Rudy, Young Master Antonio. The drinks you’ve requested.” A maid came up to us.

“When did you even have the time to ask for this?” He asked,

“I thought I’d get something nice to warm us up.” I said as I led them to the patio that could seat five people on a round table. Surrounded by flowers, it would probably be perfect for tea parties on some other days.

As the maid set the drinks on the table, he let out a slight chuckle “Really? Hot chocolate at this hour?” Antonio teased. 

“Exactly because it’s at this hour.” I countered. “Be glad i just got you tea.” 

The maid bowed and took her leave and it was just the two of us again in the garden. 

“I’m never gonna get used to that.” He sighed. 

“To what?” I asked curious. 

“The young master thing. It’s so weird. I never know how to react to it.” 

“You don't have to even do anything. Just be you.”

Antonio cupped his hands on the sides of the mug, stealing the warmth seeping away and that's when I noticed it. It wasn't clear but there was a bruise on his wrist and I gently picked his arm up to examine it closer under the moonlight. 

“Im sorry. I didn't think it would bruise.” I lightly traced my thumb over his wrist careful not to put pressure on it. 

“No its fine. It doesn't even hurt.”

“Hey, look here i said it doesn't hurt. See.” He waved his wrist, showing me it was fine, not that it made me feel any better about it. “Don't be so down over a bruise.”

“But i gotta say, you pack quite the grip in those tiny hands.” He continued

“It’s not tiny! Our hands are about the same size. You’re just lanky, thats why youre so weak, you need to build up more muscles.” 

“Lanky??” He said experated. 

I smirked. “I'm just speaking facts.” 

“Shut up give me your hands” he put his hands out in front of me. Does he want to compare hand sizes? But I obliged anyways. 

I put my left hand in front of me and he brought his hands closer that they were touching and I had to hold back from pursing my lips together. 

True enough, I had wider fingers while his were more on the skinnier side but they were a tad bit longer than mine. Mine were more bulky from training while his were perfectly sculpted to pluck the strings. And I had the huge urge to clamp my fingers on his, interlocking our fingers. 

“See what I told you. Lanky fingers.” 

“Stop it with the lanky.” He said unimpressed and I just shrugged. 

He pulled his hands away first and felt a little sad over the loss of heat on my skin. 

I was about to take a sip from my mug when “You hot chocolate bastard.” 

I almost spit on my drink. “W- what?” I was in disbelief. “What does my drink have anything to do with this?” 

“Its too sweet.” 

“Is that why you don't take sugar in your tea?”

“Noone takes sugar in their tea!” 

“I do!” 

“You what! That's a crime, Rudy oh my god!” 

It was true. I’ve hardly met anyone who took sugar in their tea but it was always a little quirk of mine and I quite like it that way. 

After a moment of bantering, we both finally calmed down.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me. I had a lot of fun today.”

It took me off guard but I managed to tell him I was glad he was here with me. 

“- and Luis too. It was hard on him when dad left.”

It was the first time I ever heard him mention about his family. I’ve always wondered where his parents were but I asked the question once and there was a pained expression on his face and since then I never dared to ask again. 

“He was only six. I couldn't work yet back then so I started playing in the streets for extra money and then it’s just been that way ever since. Luis tries his best to not depend on me too much. It’s not as bad now though.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.” 

“Its fine. It’s an old story.” Antonio said, but I could tell that it still bothered him a little.

“But if there's one upside to all of that. If you never started busking, I would never have met you.” 

“I guess so.” He said, an illusion of a smile tricking my eyes in the dark. 

The moonlight shone on his features as he gazed at the moon and my heart skipped a beat. How could someone be this gorgeous. 

He glanced at me and for a bit I jumped because he caught me staring at him. “Rudy.” He said in a voice that was lower than usual, his tone unusually serious and it sent shivers down my spine. The sudden change in his demeanor got me to sit up straight. 

I managed to choke out a strained yeah and then took my hands in his and all my reasoning fucking flew away. The sudden contact and foreign heat that wrapped itself around my hands. My thoughts were absolutely jumbled and in disarray. 

He leaned in closer to me, our faces only inches apart, eyes staring directly into mine I could almost feel it burn. It was electrifying and my breath hitched in anticipation.

He rested his head on my shoulder and hands on mine on the chair. “Thank you.” He mumbled. 

It took me a while to snap out of it and understand what he said, and a completely different feeling swelled up in my chest and it made me smile. I pried my hands away from his hold and without managing to stop myself, I wrapped my arms around him instead, leaning my head into the crook of his neck. “I didn’t do anything.”

“I just wanted to say it.”

His own scent and the smell from my cardigan mixing and intertwining with each other made it especially dizzying, it was a frighteningly pleasant scent.

After giving him a firm reassuring squeeze I pulled away from him, my hands sliding down from his shoulders and ending on top of his hands and squeezed them. His hands were colder compared to mine. 

“Your hands are cold.” I said softly, our foreheads almost touching but I didn’t dare go any further that that. “We should go back in.”

Both of us stayed in that position for a little longer until Antonio pulled back. “Yeah, we should.” and he stood up. 

He was about to reach for the mugs but I told him to just leave it there. 

I held my hands my hands out to him. 

“What?” He asked confused and gave me a hesitant low high five. 

“Wha- no you idiot!” I scoffed. “Your hands, they’re cold.”

He seemed to realise what I was trying to do but he didn’t retract his hands either, so I braved myself and grabbed his hand instead and slipped them in one of my jacket pockets. “I’m a hot pack so It’s probably warmer here.” 

That was probably it, my bravery for the next three years gone. My heartbeat was almost erratic and my chest felt tight. If he pulls away, I'd probably be so embarrassed, I thought to myself, but when his hands shifted, he interlocked his fingers in mine. 

“Your hands are really warm.” he said, moving closer to me so our hands weren’t in an awkward position.

“Right.” I couldn’t help but smile all the way up to my ears. 

Within a heartbeat, the man dismissed all my worries and uneasiness and all my troubles seemed to disappear and in that moment, all I could think of was him. Him and his smile and a sense of wanting to protect him surfaced. I want him by my side. 

“Let’s go in, i’m kind of freezing out here.” I shivered and he chuckled at it, saying something along the lines of how it didn’t make sense that I was cold and my hands being warm. 

We walked back indoors, hand in hand until we reached his doorstep and still talked for quite some time outside of his room, leaning against the wall, noting that he was standing closer than friends would actually. Antonio asked if I wanted to continue talking in his room.

“It’s fine. It’s late and I don’t really want to keep you awake.” I said a little too quickly.

It was only for a brief moment but he seemed disappointed when I turned him down and I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, so I pushed the thought aside.

Before he stepped into his room, I accidentally called out to him before I could stop myself and he stopped in his doorway to look back at me. My mind was blank. I didn’t actually have anything to say and was wrecking my head for something to say and blurted out a goodnight. 

“Goodnight, Rudy.” he smiled back at me and entered his room and shut the door. 

I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, struggling to process all the events of tonight in my head without combusting and I took a deep breath, and walked back to my room, in a daze.

My room was warmer than the corridor and I hung my jacket on the coat rack behind the door and went straight for the sofa and sat down. I leaned my elbows on my thighs, fingers put together and placed up to my face and breathed out. “Holy shit.”

I just sat on the armchair, recalling every moment, the gaze, him looking ethereal under the moonlight, how our hands intertwined, the feeling of his skin against my fingertips, the smiles, the giggles, his voice, my heart beating in my chest. But if I could simply define it. It was the most perfect night I’ve ever had, and might actually win the top spot for being the best. 

I groaned in my hands, “Why the fuck is he so handsome, it’s not fair.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 where they hold hands after the longest pining ever!
> 
> Twitter: @bakaashins  
Art IG: @exrxart (there's a few AntoRu drafts and random hcs in my story)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You want me to come to a ball, where there’s like nobles?” Antonio asked confused.
> 
> “Yeah, it’ll be fun.” I said.

Ever since the trip, Antonio and I have been really close. Of course we both had our own things to do and I couldn’t leave the palace often but somehow we manage to make up for the loss time. 

Apart from being close to each other, Antonio has been physically close as well. He’d sometimes just sneak up behind me and look over my shoulder instead of coming next to me like a normal person would. He would pull me over to him instead of asking me to come around. He would sometimes ruffle my hair. Generally speaking, he has been more physical lately and it’s been driving me crazy.

A part of me tells me that maybe he feels the same way but some of me tells me that he only sees me as a little brother, because he never seems affected in any way and would always come naturally to have contact and when I am expecting something, nothing happens. It confuses me.

“You want me to come to a ball, where there’s like nobles?” Antonio asked confused. 

“Yeah, it’ll be fun.” I said.

“Rudy, I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t very ball material.” He pointed to himself.  
“Lucky for you, it’s a masquerade ball. No one will know who you are. Plus, you’re my only friend.” I clasped my hands in a prayer position. “And you don’t have to worry about the outfit. I’ll get them ready for you. So, please come?”

Somehow, I managed to persuade Antonio into going to the ball. I had him come to the palace in the afternoon to get him ready in time. I had a grey suit prepared for him accompanied by a bowtie and a corsage pinned to the lapel, over a matching waistcoat. There was also a wide selection of masks to choose from and unsurprisingly Antonio choose an elegant simple design over the feathered ones.

"What kind of mask are you wearing?" 

"Oh, I'm wearing this one." I picked up my mask from the table, holding it up onto the long stick attached and held it close to my face. It was a cream coloured mask articulately designed with silver and gold lines. "Nothing too grand."

The closer it was to the event, I could tell he was restless. “How are you feeling?”

“A little nervous. What if I mess up?”

“You won’t.” I said, firmly holding both his arms. “Hey, I’ll be there with you. You don’t even have to give your name if you don’t want to.”

"Easy for you to say, you've done this your whole life. You look like you're meant to be here. The clothes don't look like it even fits me."

My suit was a little different from his, mine was a navy blue longcoat adorned with silver-leafed embroidery and medals.

"You look great, trust me." I gave him an encouraging smile hoping to ease his tension. "You perform in public like it's no big deal, you got this!"

During the ball, Antonio decided to go nameless - being addressed as a royal guest upon introduction. Of course, I tried to stay close to him as much as I could but eventually I had to stick up to formalities and greet the adults when they came by and sent Antonio to get food.

As long as he had his mask on, it wouldn't be a problem if no one knew his face.

It was better he wasn’t here anyways, the old geezers would stick close to anyone related to the crown to climb up the social ladder and widen their influence. It was the one thing I wanted him to avoid being dragged into. Apart from them, it would’ve been a magnificent party.

My face was aching from all the practiced smiles and the elaborate greetings. “Having fun out there Prince Rudy.” a voice asked and I turned around, ready for another round of pleasing people but when I saw the other person, a real smile came on my features. 

“Princess Amiera.” I gave her a small bow and she curtsied. “Would you like a dance?” I offered my palm out to her and she took it. 

Amiera was a princess of another kingdom who came over to pursue her studies and like me, she wasn't much of a candidate to the throne which was why we got along well.

We made our way to the dance area and started to waltz to the slow beat music. The orchestra then transitioned and starting playing a piece that was more suitable for a waltz.

The bystanders around stared at us, basking in the sight of two royals.

“Enjoying the party?” she asked. 

“You know I don’t really like them.” 

“Is that why you brought a friend? People are dying to know who he is.” she said as a matter of factly. “You should see the amount of people trying to suck up to him, it’s hilarious.”

Hearing that I got worried about him. “I was planning to stick to him tonight but the ministers came. Could you keep an eye on him for me?”

“Who says I haven’t been?”

“You’ve talked to him?” I asked.

“He’s not bad, a little to honest I’d say - but better than the last ones.”

I scoffed, “Everyone is better than the last.”

“Can’t say I didn’t tell you then.”

“And your verdict?”

“Approved.”

Seeing a familiar silhouette in the crowd slipping through the crowd, I quickly wished for the music to end and escaped into the crowd when it did, giving her a bow.

Walking out onto the balcony, I saw that familiar back, leaning on the railings looking over the lights in the city. 

“Hey.” I called out and Antonio looked over his shoulders, his elbows resting on the railing. “Sorry, I couldn’t get away from them till now.”

“Are they always like that?” he asked with a face that spelled yikes all over.

“I admit, that was probably not the best first impression, but I can’t say they’re not always like that either.”

I heard a nice music starting to play and asked him for a dance. 

Antonio hesitated for a little, “Is this proper? Won’t they - you know, say things about you.”

“They can try.” and I extended my hands.

He took my hands and I pulled him closer until we were only inches apart. 

“I don’t really remember how to dance.” He confessed sheepishly. 

All the children were exposed to folk dance in school or at some point of their lives, so I assumed that he had at least some form of exposure to dances. Plus we did a mini crash course on ballroom dancing before the ball began.

“It’s okay. Just follow my lead.” I said in a reassuring tone.

I slowly started waltzing to the music and he mirrored my movements, following my steps. I guided him through it until he got the hang of the movements and we danced to the music softly playing in the background.

It was intimate yet my heart was strangely calm, dancing under the moonlight away from the prying eyes of the crowd. The music slowly came to the end and we came to a slow stop. 

Everything was perfect until I felt a sharp pain in my foot. 

“Ouch.” I hissed and Antonio profusely apologised for stepping on my feet. “And it was going so perfectly too.” 

“I’m sorry?” A smile creeped onto his face and giggles threatening to escape him and pulled along his pace, I started laughing too. 

Antonio rested his forehead on my shoulder and steadying his breathing, before taking a step away, releasing his hold from me, and I mourned over the loss of contact.

He stared straight into my eyes, one of his hands still in mine when I refused to let go. 

“Thank you.” I said. “For agreeing to come. It really means a lot.”

“Yeah, you were technically begging me to come.” he chuckled, but when he didn’t get the response he expected. “Rudy, you okay?”

“You know, before I met you, I had no one I could talk to as my equal, you know. I never knew if they care about me for who I am or because they can’t refuse me because i'm a prince. Well, apart from Amiera, I had no friends, and anyone who came close to me always wanted something in return. In my family, I’m only close with my brother but even then he is the second prince and I still have to be mindful of his status - I can’t fool around as much. So when we became friends, I was really happy. You’re kind and amazing and beautiful - and you always made me look at things in a different perspective and I love them about you.” I paused. “Well what I mean to say is that I hope we can stay together because - you know, I li- like being with you.”

I didn’t dare look at Antonio’s face and the silence was even worse.

“Wait rudy? Is this? Are you? Do you actually mean it?” 

Pink dusted my cheeks that even the dark couldn't conceal. “Can you please not make me repeat all that.”

“Hold on. I need a moment, to suddenly spring this on me.” he turned away, avoiding my eyes, his face red too. 

“Why are you embarrassed. Could you not act like you were the one saying all that.”

“Well, I just wasn’t prepared for all that.” he held his arms in front of his face. “Um, is this - I mean, can I count this as a confession?”

I looked up to him, does he really want for me to spell everything out for him?

I chewed on my bottom lip, avoiding eye contact and reached out to pinch the hem of his sleeve, giving a slight nod. 

Just then, he stepped forward and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Me too. For quite some time now.” he set his head in the crook of my neck, whispering a soft thank you that was barely audible.

“Really?” I pulled away first to look at his face. “Can I look at your face.”

He untied the strings of his mask and took it off.

“Why are you crying?” I wiped a single tear falling down his cheeks.

“I’m not.” he rubbed his eyes, turning away. 

“Antonio, come on.” I teased. 

“Go away.” 

“No way, I wanna see you face.” I cupped his face squeezing it a little bit. 

Ahh, he’s just so good looking. The way he pouts.

His eyes were red from rubbing them, his gaze avoiding mine.

“Stop that.”

“Hahahahha okay.” I ruffled his hair a little bit and received an annoyed protest as he fixed his hair and placed the mask back on.

We both leaned onto the railings overlooking the palace walls and the city, as brightly lit as the ball going on inside the palace.

“Oh yeah, how did you figure out I was a prince?”

“Well, that’s cuz your - I mean, you said you were serving the prince.” he trailed off and I was listening intently. “But you don’t exactly have the hands of one.” 

“Ohh.. How so?”

“They’re too smooth.”

Silence fell upon us.  
Doesn’t that mean my cover was blown ever since the beginning. I thought to myself and thought of how stupid everything up till now went and silently laughed. 

I scooched in closer to him, our shoulders brushing against each other, shoulders tingling at the contact. I wouldn’t mind doing this all the time. 

Just then, I felt his finger brush against mine. His two fingers on top of mine and I thought it was the cutest gesture ever and I returned it and took his hands in mine.

They were cold, like the first time I held them - well, second time. Cold hands intertwined with mine, hoping to keep them warm.

I really like him. Antonio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was actually a prologue to Rudy, before he met the princess of the neighboring kingdom (FoAN) that is a multichapter that is still in chapter 1 and will probably never get posted because I just love AntoRu too much!!
> 
> Twitter: @bakaashins  
Art IG: @exrxart (there's a few AntoRu drafts and random hcs in my story)

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to make this into a 3 chapter story since 11k words is just too much to read in a single chapter >.<  

> 
> Twitter: @bakaashins  
Art IG: @exrxart (there's a few AntoRu drafts and random hcs in my story)


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